Picking Out The Best Avocados: Let the Farmer Do It For You

What if you could go to an avocado grove, ask the farmer to show you his best fruit, and pick some yourself! You would know where it came from and who grew it. You would also have a good idea when it would be ready to eat. Best of all, you would be able to get consistent quality fruit…only the best for you!

Last summer we had a visit from Gigi Stewart of Gluten Free Gigi. She comes from Georgia and had never visited an avocado ranch before. (Yes, we call it a ranch…it’s just the word we use in California…for those of you in the east, substitute the word “farm” or “orchard”.) Farmer Ed helped her find some avocados that were ready to pick. She was thrilled to learn how to use a picking pole to reach the nicest avocados in the top of the tree! Gigi positioned the bag under her favorite avocado, and the cutters were next to the stem. Then she pulled the string on the pole to activate the cutters, and the avocado fell directly into the small bag on the end of the pole!

Ben takes the avocado from the bag

You can see the small clippers in Ben’s hand. He will be cutting the stem off of each avocado so that just a “button” remains. This keeps the avocados from being damaged by sharp protruding stems.

Don’t leave the stem on the avocado like this…clip it off, flush with the fruit

Not everyone is able to come to the ranch to pick their own fruit. In fact, most of the time we are too busy taking care of the trees to conduct tours. However, you CAN get the best fruit sent to you in the mail, and it will be specially selected for you by the farmer too! The very nicest avocados are hand selected and packed into gift boxes and our monthly subscription boxes. Then the mailman comes by to pick them up…and in a few days you have them in your home!

Imagine finding a box of these beauties in your mailbox! Our cousin Carly got these while she was visiting Grammy in Vermont!

You can get a gift box mailed to you too, or a subscription box sent every month. Some people even get two boxes every month! Avocados are the perfect green gift!